The Medical Cross

This week's lesson on semiology and symbols was very enlightening. As similarly as I am learning to take a step back and look at the "why" of enjoying video games or anime, I am now looking at different logos and signs used not only in pop culture but in every day life. I began to think about all the similar images used not just in America, but around the world, such as traffic signals that can be almost universally understood. Yet as I was searching for which one I'd like to examine more closely, I kept coming back to the universal symbol of medical personnel: the medical cross.

In America, the cross is usually synonymous with The Red Cross organization and as such is almost always displayed as red on a white background. In Europe, it is more commonly a green cross on a white background, or vise-versa, which denotes more of a pharmacy than a doctor.

Red Medical Cross logo, stylized. (image source)

The symbol itself in red and white eerily reminds people of the white cleanliness of hospitals, the sheets, gauze, uniforms, etc, but the red? Is it blood? You would think such a color would put people off, but I believe it has much more to do with the country it originated: Switzerland. In looking into the history of the symbol and the Red Cross organization, I immediately thought of combat medics. The symbol was derived from the Swiss flag after a tourist witnessed the horror and destruction while traveling abroad to Italy during the Italian unification wars.

Flag of Switzerland over the Swiss Alps. (image source)

This citizen returned home with much commentary, soon writing a memoir book of seeing almost 50,000 wounded soldiers simply left on the battlefield. His ideas evolved into a conference that formed the basis for all combat medics in the armed forces of the world, and also the basis for the Geneva Convention and it's laws about the rules of engagement and treatment of prisoners of war. Subsequently, the flag of the country that inspired such a global structure was imitated in the symbol of the organization of medics.

Combat medics of the Red Cross are clearly marked with white armbands and symbols on their helmets to denote that they are non-combatant personnel and need not be targeted by either side as they are only there to help the wounded. They assist with conflicts and disasters as an impartial third party.

World War 2 re-enactment. (source)

Even without all this history being told, if you were in a foreign place or were approached by a foreign person, and needed medical assistance, it would be very easy to use this symbol to communicate what was needed.

Historical background source: https://www.peimag.com/why-is-the-medical-symbol-for-first-aid-a-red-cross/